Numbers 16:4-7

This group of men—Korah, Dathan, and Abiram—lusted after that honor that had been given to the tribe of Levi, and of course that included Moses and Aaron and all of the Levites. Korah’s group’s desire was so great that it drove them to rebellion against God, and they all ended up dead.

God’s larger intention, if we would turn back to Exodus 19:5-6, would show that the covenant-people were to be a nation of priests, and because God is holy, the people that are in His possession must be holy.

The appointed priests were to discharge their duty on the behalf of the whole community, but that entire tribe of Levi was the representative of the rest of the nation before God to help them grow in their special relationship with God. In other words, the entire tribe of Levi was appointed, commissioned by God, to serve Him in helping to make the rest of Israel holy so that they could become a nation, a kingdom of priests. The principle of sacrifice plays a major role in one becoming holy, because human nature must be sacrificed and put to death.

Numbers 16:6-7

Moses replied in a very interesting way. These two hundred fifty men tromp up to Moses, knock on his door and say, "You take too much authority on yourself. It should be shared among us two hundred and fifty." And Moses said, "You'd better watch out, because tomorrow morning God is going to show which ONE is holy, which ONE He has chosen to lead this people." So he tells them to do this:

This is an inter-family squabble; not just inter-church or international. This was mostly a squabble among Levites. It was headed by a grandson of Kohath. Very interesting. Moses puts the blame squarely on the ones who were in charge. This was spearheaded by the Levites who thought they had been kept out of the good positions. What they had to do was just take down the Tabernacle and cart it off and do all these physical labors, while Aaron's family got to be priests.

Numbers 16:6-7

It is very easy to see that once one understands this, the men who were rebelling against Moses and Aaron did not have the faith because they came to Moses saying, "Now here's the way I see it." And they were trampling all over God's grace in giving them the responsibility that they already had. They forgot all about their problems of character. They forgot all about what they had done in the past, and they were focusing on Moses and Aaron, and were saying, "Well, I'm just as good as they are."

That is very interesting because apparently Moses must have turned and faced Korah directly. Korah, remember, was the only Levite among the three. There may have been other Levites in the 250, but apparently this was directed straight at Korah because he was a Levite, and he should have known better above the other ones.